Sale stand-off has cast off the arrogance that blighted his earlly days with
England and is determined to make his comeback last

England set off for New Zealand on Tuesday night with a 30-man squad that included fly-half Danny Cipriani, primed for the first Test against the All Blacks in Auckland on June 7.

The last time Cipriani laced his boots in the southern hemisphere was two years ago for the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby franchise during his self-imposed exile from the British game.

He was not the first man to find himself in Australia embarked upon a spot of hard labour as rehabilitation for difficulties at home.

That he should be returning so soon after that troubled spell, a reformed and re-energised character, set to wear the white of England again in a Test match six years after his last cap, is a remarkable turnaround.

Never mind that it is by default. Never mind that Owen Farrell, Stephen Myler and George Ford are ahead of him in the pecking order but are unavailable for the game in Eden Park, or that Freddie Burns, the, Gloucester fly-half, is expected to start ahead of him in Auckland.

Cipriani knows his place and has shown no signs of the bumptiousness that irked so many, none of that sense of entitlement which alienated Martin Johnson’s England regime.

Cipriani, 26, realises that he has been thrown a lifeline and that this is just the start of something, not an end in itself.

He now has to prove that he has been worth the faith shown in him by Stuart Lancaster, the head coach.

“Hopefully this is just the beginning of me improving as a player,” Cipriani said.

“I have not come here and felt like the task has been achieved because it hasn’t. I have got so much learning and catching-up to do.

"I am not first choice here so humility has to come with me immediately.

"It was nerve-racking coming into camp on the first day, but I knew that I had to get up to scratch with the plays and I feel I have done that.

"It was always the dream to get back into the England squad. It is up to me now to stake my claim.”

Lancaster knows Cipriani well from his time in charge of the second-string England Saxons.

It was not always a smooth relationship but there is little doubt that Lancaster’s way has become the England way.

High demands are placed on the players, self-regulated by peer-group pressure within as well as scrutiny from outside.

There is precious little scope for deviating from the straight and narrow, and little prospect of this trip being mired in the scandal that dogged the past two visits to New Zealand.

Cipriani was not involved in those ventures. It is as an international player that he will be judged first and foremost.

Can he lead the back line? Can he stick to the game plan and not go off-script as has been his wont in the past?

Can he cope defensively with the likes of Ma’a Nonu, the imposing All Blacks centre, running down his channel?

All this and more will be on the criteria tick list for the England management.

“I knew I had to make changes [in my life] and that I had to get my head down and do it the rugby way,” said the 26-year-old, no longer the young pup to whom it all came naturally.

“It definitely feels more fulfilling. You don’t want things to be an easy ride. When it is tough, when there are obstacles to overcome, that’s when you feel you have achieved something.

"Every day in this environment is testing, on and off the field. You can’t take your foot off the pedal. I used to be able to play off the front foot in my early days.

"I have had to adapt, learn how to run a game off the back foot. And that has been good for me. It is another string to my bow.”

Cipriani is the first to acknowledge the influence of Steve Black in his transformation from wayward outsider to best-behaviour insider.

Jonny Wilkinson’s long-time mentor has been doing a similar job with Cipriani, acting as a sounding-board, as a conditioning and lifestyle consultant, and, quite simply, as a voice of reason and wisdom.

“Steve is someone who understands how certain brains work and he gets people to understand the importance of small details, such as drinking water or resting,” Cipriani said.

“We talk most days. It keeps my mind occupied. Steve gets me to read stuff, too, to make sure I am as professional I can be in all aspects.”

Blink, an American insight into instinct and thinking by Malcolm Gladwell, was tucked into Cipriani’s carry-on bag for the flight south.

The Sale fly-half will need all that and more to deal with the world champions coming at him, even without Dan Carter, who is on sabbatical.

“I want to give the best example of myself that I can over the next month, show to everyone that I want to be an England rugby player more than anything else,” he said.